Protesters in Downtown Winnipeg plan to stay put despite provincial plan to end mandates

Despite plans from the province to lift all restrictions by mid-March, organizers of the protest in Downtown Winnipeg say they are sticking around for the long haul.

With pressure on the doorstep to end pandemic mandates, Premier Heather Stefanson was clear, the decision to remove rules around proof of vaccination and mask use next month, has nothing to do with the demonstration outside the legislature.

“We don’t make decisions that are this important to Manitobans based on protests that are taking place," Stefanson said on Friday.

The protest outside the Manitoba Legislature has remained since it first arrived on Feb. 4.

Caleb Brown, a co-organizer of the protest, said they are encouraged by Stefanson’s pledge.

"It seems like she is really trying to unite people and bring sides that have been separated for a while to bring them together," Brown said, adding the convoy of trucks is not going anywhere until all mandates are gone.

“We are staying until the federal government comes to the table and drops all the mandates, vacates them.”

A counter protest at the Legislature is planned Saturday by activists and residents downtown fed up with the hourly honking and disruptions.

“Tell these convoy folks to go home, back to their big warm houses and their big vehicles, so we can get back to our lives," Omar Kinnarath, an organizer of a group called Defend Winnipeg.

Because of the counter movement, the Winnipeg Police Service is deploying more officers to ensure things don’t get out of hand.

“The number of officers will be bolstered this weekend to ensure that demonstrations remain peaceful and non-violent," police said in a statement.

There are other protests in the works for the weekend.

Mounties are warning about demonstrations at Deacon’s Corner, the Perimeter and in the Morden and Selkirk areas. There is also a maskless protest set to target CF Polo Park shopping mall.

The area councillor is urging those involved to stand down as it could send shoppers away and impact retailers.

"Things are getting better, please don’t make it worse with a maskless protest," he said.

The co-organizer of the protest in front of the Legislature said they plan on scaling back activities that are impacting residents but he wouldn’t say yet what those are.

In a written statement, organizers said the trucks intend to remain outside the Legislature until provincial restrictions are removed and until, "there is collaborative discussion with the federal government on fully eliminating the border restrictions and interprovincial mobility restrictions, particularly travel by air and train."

The statement said, however, that protesters will be scaling down their presence.